Self-consistent methods for structure and production of heavy and superheavy nuclei

Self-consistent methods for the structure of heavy and superheavy nuclei are reviewed. The construction and application of energy-density functionals are discussed. The relationship between the self-consistent methods and microscopic-macroscopic approaches is considered on the mean-field level. The extraction of single-particle potentials from the energy-density functional is described. The isotopic dependence of nucleon distributions and its influence on the nucleus–nucleus interaction is analyzed. As a new additional condition we introduce that the energy-density functional must describe the heights of the Coulomb barriers in nucleus–nucleus interaction potentials, thus imposing constraints on the properties of the functional at low matter densities. The self-consistent methods are applied to describe the quasiparticle structure, cluster radioactivity, and fission of the heaviest nuclei. These methods are used to predict the probabilities of $$\beta $$ -delayed multi-neutron emission and half-lives of $$\beta $$ -decays and electron captures in heavy and superheavy nuclei. The predicted properties of superheavy nuclei are used to estimate the production cross-sections of superheavy nuclei in complete fusion reactions.